The Nathaniel Parker Log Cabin

The Nathaniel Parker Log Cabin. . , This is one of the earliest log cabins in Sumner County dating to circa 1790, originally built near Greenfield Fort by Nathaniel Parker who was a long hunter and settler. During the French and Indian War, he served with George Washington and was a scout in the Cumberland region. In 1792 he married Mary Bledsoe, the widow of Col. Anthony Bledsoe, who was killed by Indians in 1788. In the same year, Parker brought his children from a previous marriage, from Virginia to Sumner County., The Parker cabin is typical of hundreds of log cabins that were built in Sumner County during the pioneer years. It was the quickest and easiest way for settlers to provide their families with shelter and protection. Poplar, ash, oak and cedar trees were abundant for walls and timber framing, and roofs, and outcroppings of limestone were plentiful for which to build chimneys. Many cabins began with one room and a loft that served as a children's bedroom, though some, like the Parker cabin, were built as a "story and a half” which included a stairway built to the attic which also served as a bedroom. Later, a second log room would be added usually with a connecting porch or "dogtrot” as they were generally called. The cabins had split log (puncheons) or earthen floors. Shakes which were rived (split) from cedar or oak were used for the roof.